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With that, we come to the end of our live coverage of the first semi-final from Newlands in Cape Town. India played well, but were not good enough to hang in there and finish things off in the end. However, they gave the defending champions a massive scare. But as they say, champions know how to win and when. Australia, sure do! The trio of Pratyush, Soorya and Bidipto will take your leave now. Do join us again tomorrow, for the second semi-final, between hosts South Africa and another powerhouse team, England. Keep following Sportskeeda though, all the time!
So, Australia are through to the their 7th straight T20 World Cup Final. Their performances in these crunch games keep getting better and better. As Meg Lanning herself said, they love playing these knock-out games under pressure and bring the best out of themselves. Well, they certainly did so today, at Newlands! It is about hanging in there are sticking through the tough phases, to see the light at the end of the tunnel and cash in then. Australia do just that, over and over again. Congratulations yet again, to this well-knit, thoroughly professional Australia Women team, who will be defending their World Cup title in the Final on Sunday.
Meg Lanning, Australia captain: This is one the best wins of my career! It got slightly nervous on a couple of occasions when we bowled, but, having played against this team before, we knew that we had to hang it there and not give in to anything. These are the matches that we love to play to be honest, these big matches have those important moments in them, which we like to win. We did that again today, quite professionally. I won't watch tomorrow's semi-final, maybe some of the other team members will. But, it is all about turning up in the final and putting forward our best performance.
Harmanpreet Kaur, India captain: Can't feel unluckier than this! Everything was going in favour of us, but then came my run out.... Anyway, we gave it a tough fight. We hung in there right till the end. We like to chase, we feel comfortable in doing so. Jemimah Rodrigues was excellent today. She got off to a flying start and gave us necessary momentum. We were not good in the field though. Quite a few mistakes in that department. But all we can do is learn from all these experiences to get back stronger.
Ashleigh Gardner is the Player of the Match. Here is what she has to say: Well, bowling the last over my average heartbeat was up to about a 190. A game like this shows the way we fight as a team. That's what we spoke about in the huddle at the end. That's what this team does. When our backs are against the wall, we know how to fight back. We weren't in a winning position but managed to find a way. It was all about wanting to be clear on what we wanted to execute. We set the game up well with the bat and missed a few opportunities with the ball. I know in the later stages for me was all about trying to hit the wicket and not offering any freebies. I was thankful that the final stages went in our favor. (Batting with Lanning) It's always nice to spend some time in the middle with Meg. She is really calm. I felt really confident coming into this game after the tournament I've had and hopefully can continue this for another game to do it in the finals.
Australia win by 5 runs and progress to the T20 World Cup 2023 Final!
So close...yet so far! It's been the tale of the Indian cricket team across both men's and women's cricket for a good while now. And alas, it's another chapter they wouldn't have wanted to add to their frustration. But then, 173 was never going to be an easy total to chase on a two-paced track, but the Women in Blue gave it absolutely everything despite losing their way early on.
Shafali Verma and Smriti Mandhana were both trapped in front with the Aussies chancing an inspired review and getting rid of the latter. It seemed as though India's fate was sealed at that moment, even as Yastika Bhatia and Jemimah Rodrigues announced their intention to keep it going. A terrible mix-up between the two saw Bhatia run out by a mile before the player with all the attention on her, Harmanpreet Kaur, strode out into the cauldron.
What followed thereafter, was a counter-attack to behold! Both Rodrigues and the Indian skipper unleashed some of the most glorious strokes all around the park. If Harmanpreet used her bottom hand power to the best possible extent, Rodrigues threaded the field and unleashed some of the most delightful strokes through the covers you could see. They also ran hard between the wickets and kept the intent going post the powerplay with no mood to take the foot off the gas.
Clearly, India knew that they had to fight fire with fire. But Australia never showed signs of panic - a slower bouncer from Darcie Brown saw Rodrigues upper-cut it into the gloves of Alyssa Healy, who then gave Harmanpreet a couple of reprieves. The skipper notched up a brilliant half-century - yet again in a big encounter. Richa Ghosh couldn't get her timing going at all, but a moment of bad luck combined with a casual effort from Harmanpreet saw her bat stuck into the turf, getting run out in the process.
And that's where the game turned on its head for good. India were still in control of the asking rate, but the pressure of too many dots got to Ghosh with Deepti Sharma also failing to get a move on. It went down to the wire before Jess Jonassen sent down a phenomenal 19th over which was marked by a tight wide call going in favor of the Aussies and a stupendous dive from Ellyse Perry complicating the equation further for the Women in Blue. 16 runs were needed off the last and with Ashleigh Gardner holding her nerve, a billion Indian hearts were broken yet again. Stick around for the presentations...
20
overs
167/8score
2
2
1
W
1
4
runs
Deepti Sharma*
20(17)
Shikha Pandey
1(1)
Ashleigh Gardner
2/37
19.6 Ashleigh Gardner to Deepti Sharma, FOUR, but it does not matter. So close, yet so far for India. They had this one in the bag for a major chunk of this run chase but it's the inevitability of this Austrian side that stands firm once more. This was tossed up outside off, Deepti stepped out to loft this over extra cover for a boundary.India suffer another semi-final heartbreak. Australia won by 5 wickets to make it into another final!
10 runs to get off 1 legal delivery.
19.5 Ashleigh Gardner to Shikha Pandey, Gardner holds her nerve! Fires it into the pitch on the middle stump line. Pandey steps out to club this down to long-on for a single
Alyssa Healy is standing back now.
Shikha Pandey, RHB, is at the crease.
India need 11 runs off the remaining 2 balls now.
19.4 Ashleigh Gardner to Radha Yadav, HOLES OUT! Right into the safe mittens of Perry. Slightly quicker on the good length around off-stump and Radha had only one thing in her mind as she stepped out. Swung for the fences with all her might but she's picked out long-on.
Radha Yadav c Ellyse Perry b Ashleigh Gardner 0 (1b, 0x4, 0x6)
19.3 Ashleigh Gardner to Deepti Sharma, fires it in on the good length around off-stump. Deepti steps down the track to drive this to mid-off for a single. It's up to Radha Yadav now..
There are four fielders in the deep on the on-side.
19.2 Ashleigh Gardner to Deepti Sharma, tossed up on the good length around middle stump. Deepti dances down the track to heave this towards wide long-on to hustle back for another brace. 12 off 4 now...
14 needed off 5...
19.1 Ashleigh Gardner to Deepti Sharma, steps out to convert this into a low full toss to drive this through extra cover. Lanning and McGrath combine to give it chase and keep it down to two
Ashleigh Gardner [3.0-0-27-1] is back into the attack.
Radha Yadav, RHB, is at the non-striker's end.
Last over coming up! India need boundaries early in the over. They have to find the fence, otherwise, this game is gone! 16 runs to get in 6 balls now, for India.
19
overs
157/7score
1
1
0
2
0
W
runs
Sneh Rana*
11(10)
Deepti Sharma
11(13)
Jess Jonassen
1/22
18.6 Jess Jonassen to Sneh Rana, KNOCKS HER OVER! Fires it in full and straight. You miss, I hit. Rana stepped out for wild hoick but only connected with fresh air, which meant the ball went on to crash into middle and leg. This is Australia's game to lose now.
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Newlands, Cape Town
Deepti Sharma
*
Ashleigh Gardner
Video
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